IBM (NYSE: IBM) has been selected for Stage C, the third phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, the company announced Oct. 7, 2026.

DARPA launched the QBI in 2024 to determine whether an industrially useful fault-tolerant quantum computer can be built by 2033, defining such a system as one whose computational value exceeds its cost. Stage C moves selected companies beyond conceptual planning into hardware testing by DARPA's independent verification and validation team.

IBM previously completed Stage A, which required an initial technical concept, and Stage B, which called for a detailed research and development plan including risk mitigation approaches. Stage A performers were announced in April 2025.

"Advancing to the third stage of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative validates the strength of IBM's path to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer," said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow. "IBM expects to deliver the first fault-tolerant system in 2029."

IBM has said it plans to deliver a fault-tolerant quantum computer called IBM Quantum Starling, combining advances in error correction, processor design, and systems engineering. The company said its hardware development has remained on track, citing demonstrations of core fault-tolerance components and advances in error correction decoding.

IBM states its quantum computers are currently used by more than 340 organizations across financial services, healthcare, materials science, academia, and government.